After reading and hearing about the research on bilingual education and English-only education, my initial view of the two has changed. Although bilingual education has proven beneficial, English-only education also has its place. I believe that instead of spending more time and money on researching which of the two is the better option, the time and money should be put towards educating and training teachers to work with these students. Either program, bilingual education or English-only, can be efficient, the difference is the teachers and administrative support.

I agree that bilingual education's quality is dependent on administration and training. I do not believe that english only is beneficial but I do think children should be given an amount of time, a deadline, that they are allowed to be in bilingual education and that he line of communication should be open between educators and parents..

From experience I have learned that if you give parents and students a time limit in which a child has to show improvement in their L2 they have a greater chance at showing progress. Parents, for the most part do not want their child to fail so they try the best they can to see their child thrive.

I am a 2nd grade bilingual teacher with a few students that have been in the program since Kindergarten and with these students I keep an open line of communication with parents while supplying them with resources that they can use at home to improve the students L2. this has shown to be quite effective with most of my students.

I don't belive that English-only is beneficial for students who are just beginning to learn the language. From what I have read/heard, English-only has its place with direct instruction of the English language (teaching grammar etc.). However, I still think that a student's native language should be used in that setting to clarify information.

This is such a sensitive debate topic, it's almost impossible to know which side to choose because there are pros and cons to both. However, I do feel that English only is beneficial, especially when begun at a younger age. English only needs to be incorporated, specifically, in science lessons, math, history, etc.

Mromero, I hadn't heard of children being given an amount of time/deadline in BE but I think that is a really good idea. With a time limit parents and teachers can focus a lot more on what exactly the child needs to work on and learn.

There is a place for both bilingual ed and English-only programs, and sound arguments have been made for both based on sound research. The problem is that so many of us (and now three states) are trying to pick one over the other as the "better" option and apply that across the board. The diversity of students, learning environments, circumstances of all sorts, etc. are too complex for a "one size fits all" model, or having to make a choice between bilingual ed. or English-only for everyone everywhere. We should not limit ourselves to one or the other. We need too be free to choose from as many possible teaching models/methods as we can to best individualize/localize instruction. More tools in the toolbox is better than less, as long as we use the right tool for the right job in the right place. Above all else, we need to remain flexible and adaptable.

I am someone who was placed in an English-only classroom when I arrived into this country. Let me say that this was a horrible experience. When I speak with other immigrants who are English Learners and their experience trying to integrate into an English-only system, it hasn't served them so well and made their transition much more difficult than it needed to be. Why would I say this? First, as young English learners, there is an assumption that there is something inherently wrong with our own native culture and language if it is being prohibited in a public place such as a school. Many immigrant kids become embarrassed and ashamed of their own culture because of what English-only implies, they grow up wanting nothing to do with their own culture. Also, language acquisition begins in the home. There are immigrant children whose parents do not speak English, so what happens in an English-only environment is that the student either loses one language to gain another or they learn both languages poorly because there isn't a great transition to understand words in English when they can't understand what is being asked of them or what the words mean. Students from another country also may be used to different teaching protocols and the inability of a teacher to communicate effectively can affect a student's interaction and assimilation into a new culture and school. Teachers can make a big difference, but in an English-only environment, teachers don't necessary know or have the training or the international savvy to understand what the student needs. My experiences were so bad that it has haunted me for most of my life, and my experience was fairly commonplace at the time. These experiences drive my need to make films about it and share these experiences so that they don't happen again. With the right instructors, bilingual education actually IMPROVES language literacy as well as giving students an edge in a global commerce. We don't live a US only economy, we are becoming a global economy and those who speak more than one language well are more likely to succeed. I posted elsewhere just now about my two films, one that shows what happens when the right bilingual resources and teachers are available, and the other film as a cautionary tale of what English-only instruction has done in the past.

After reading and hearing about the research on bilingual education and English-only education, my initial view of the two has changed. Although bilingual education has proven beneficial, English-only education also has its place. I believe that instead of spending more time and money on researching which of the two is the better option, the time and money should be put towards educating and training teachers to work with these students. Either program, bilingual education or English-only, can be efficient, the difference is the teachers and administrative support.

I believe both can work. I have worked with schools who use both. They have bilingual teachers and native speaking teachers. Students can have a deeper understanding of the language. Most test prep schools in Taiwan have this system.

Personally I believe there is a definite place for quality bilingual instruction in today's global world. It is a complete mistake to have English only and in particular if we are talking about English only when this is the L2 or L3.... Research shows that children need fluency in their native languages too to excel in literacy generally not to mention the developmental and social aspects alongside what should be an automatic right to be literate in their mother tongue. Of course what qualifies as quality bilingual education and the delivery of such remains problematic in many places.